TOP OF THE MOUNTAIN
Colorado kept climbing and fi nally won it all
By Tim Haslam C Colorado State Above: Logan Quinn, Arizona State WCLA
Champion Pittsburgh
AIN’T IT GRAND?
Grand Valley State coach Tim Murray knew the road to the MCLA Division II title would go through St. John’s and St. Thomas — and he wasted no time showing it.
Starting 0-2 with losses to the Johnnies and Tommies aroused the senses of a team with 21 freshmen and eight sophomores. “It demonstrated to our younger players what we needed to do to be in the hunt come May,” Murray said. Zach Grusell emerged as a calming presence, and Grand Valley State avenged those losses when it counted most, beating St. Thomas 10-5 in the MCLA semifi nals and St. John’s 12-11 in the championship game.
GODEKERAW AWARDS
Division I Logan Quinn, Arizona State
Quinn, who will go down as one the MCLA’s best all-time players, had his best season as a senior with 34 goals and 28 assists.
Division II
Charlie Farmer, Grand Valley State Farmer had 23 goals and 15 assists for the Division II champs. “He has an unparalleled sense of the game,” coach Tim Murray said.
50 LACROSSE MAGAZINE July 2014>>
ollege lacrosse coaches and captains often collaborate to establish their theme, motto, slogan or saying for the upcoming
season. For Colorado’s 2014 campaign, it was “The Process.”
“Instead of writing our goals on a board and all that, we really just focused on the process, and we became more process-oriented than outcome- oriented,” Buffaloes coach John Galvin said. “We focused on getting to the next day and how we were going to get to the next step.”
Only after defeating Arizona State 13- 12 in the MCLA Division I championship game May 17 in Orange, Calif., there were no more next steps. A year after losing to hated Colorado State in the fi nal after scoring two measly goals, Colorado reached the top. Galvin credited an offseason overhaul of the offense, defense and transition units. “We tried to make ourselves look different,” he said. The Buffaloes had an up-and-down
— T.H.
start. They won their fi rst four games to ascend to No. 1 in the MCLA poll, then lost two straight to Michigan State and Arizona State. They beat Cal the day after the Arizona State loss, and then had 11 days off to prepare for what Galvin called Base Camp 2. “Before the season started, we talked to the guys about climbing the mountain,” he said. “Preseason was Base Camp 1, and the middle of the season was Base Camp 2.”
Putting a premium on possessions, Colorado won its next seven games, including a revenge date with Colorado State that sent the Buffaloes soaring into the RMLC playoffs. They beat Westminster and Brigham Young to win the conference title.
As the No. 2 seed in the MCLA tournament Colorado defeated Minnesota-Duluth, avenged its loss to Michigan State and closed on a 3-1 run to beat UC Santa Barbara 12-10 in the semifi nals.
Riley Seidel
That set up the showdown with Arizona State, the No. 1-versus-No. 2 rematch everyone wanted.
Colorado road the coattails of a seven- goal third quarter — its most productive quarter of the season — to a 12-8 lead. “We were able to move the ball and get it up the fi eld quickly, which helped push the tempo,” Galvin said. “We caught them in that third quarter and were able to make a run.” But the Buffaloes nearly stumbled at the summit. Arizona State stormed back late in the fourth quarter. After Justin Straker scored to bring the Sun Devils within 13-9 with 4:10 left, Dan Davis scored two goals assisted by Straker 26 seconds apart, then scored his fi fth goal of the game with 16 seconds remaining to make it 13-12. Arizona State faulted on the fi nal faceoff, and Colorado ran off the remaining time to capture their fi rst MCLA title.
Championship game MVP Riley Seidel (six points in the fi nal) and Jack Cranston combined for 111 goals and 66 assists this season. Seidel’s 96 points were the most in Division I. Cranston’s 81 ranked fi fth.
“Moving Jack to attack really helped us out,” Galvin said of the converted midfi elder. “His riding ability is really something people don’t talk about, but it was really great for us this year. It was incredible to watch him turn into a man from a guy. It was a great transformation.” What’s the key to a repeat in 2015? “Make sure these guys don’t feel entitled, and get back to the process,” Galvin said. “It’s about getting back to Base Camp 1.” LM
A Publication of US Lacrosse
MCLA Champion
©DIRK DEWACHTER (ALL)
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